Christmas Joys

It's always awesome to wake up at 0'dark:thrity to hear the squeals of small children's delight in seeing what Santa brought.  Santa brought a few gifts for the stockings - aluma-wallets and laser pointer key chains, along with some candy.  He brought Fischer a Power Rangers set knowing that Fischer wasn't going to play much with the family's gift - XBox.  The boys were very excited with the gift(s).  They had requested this game called Skylanders, which we had never heard of.  But, Santa came through, as he always does.  The boys have been playing it pretty much non-stop.  

It's such a hard thing - Christmas.  It's so awesome that so many scrooges come out of their mansions and have a change of heart.  What other holiday does that?  It's too bad we can't keep that change of heart alive for more months of the year.  It's so hard to not want to spoil children with everything on their list.  I love watching kids open up gifts; it's so fun. It's fun to see their eyes light up and hear the excitement in the voices.  The boys loved what they got. They loved the remote control tonka car/truck devices from Grandma with the puppies.  They loved what Santa brought and I was so relieved that they didn't break out their list and check off all the things they didn't get.

Unfortunately, they are brothers and they turn to fighting quite rapidly.  I think they made it through Christmas day w/out much squabble, but yesterday and today have been less than perfect.  But, let's not dwell on that today; I already took some Tylenol-look-a-like to make my headache go away.

But, all in all, we had a good Christmas and a great prime rib dinner.  I loved that I had everything in the living room cleaned up by 6:30am.  The boys were threatened not to come out of their room until 6am.  It worked.  They did wake up somewhere around 5am.  Their room, of course, shares a wall with ours.  They were pretty quiet for a while.  Then, I hear one of them say, "It's 5:46, only 14 more minutes!!"  Not only cute, but smart as well.  That school thing does seem to be paying off. :-)  I got up to go to the bathroom right before 6am, but their clock is about two minutes faster than ours, so Neil had to make them wait on my bed for about 30 seconds.  Can't go down without mama! They had fun.  Neil and I had decided early on that our Christmas/Anniversary would consist of Las Vegas in January!  So, we asked Santa to bring only a family gift.  It was nice.

Had I not forgotten the camera on my trip downstairs a few minutes ago, I would be posting some pictures.  The classic Christmas pictures of dark in the background with too much flash.  I am such an awesome photographer - not!  I'll get them up somewhere, sometime.

I suppose . . .

I suppose . . . when you live in a house with all boys, it's bound to not always smell like roses or something scentsy.  Sometimes, it's poop.  Just sayin'.  It happens.

I suppose . . . sometimes I have too high of expectations.  Is it too much to ask for the boys to go to the bathroom before  they go to bed so that they don't have to get up 17 minutes later to go the bathroom?

I suppose . . . sometimes I really don't have a lot to say, but have a few random thoughts to vent.  Too bad my random thoughts aren't really profound.

I suppose . . . I should admit that I am a little on edge about Rex finding out that Gigi is still alive.  Get it over with already.  Yeah, I religiously watch a sappy, stupid soap opera.  I just finished watching today's episode and they do it every single day - string us, the loyal viewers, along.  Why do I watch such trash you might ask? It's mindless.  Exactly.  I don't have to think.  But sometimes, it does drag on for a few too many episodes.  Gigi is alive dang it!!!  Anyway . . . there you have it people, I divulge a secret.

I suppose . . . I should get some sleep.  I am struggling with NOT getting up to tidy the house.  It's a complete disaster, in my personal opinion, at this very second.  There are some clean clothes and clean dishes, but we haven't really put anything away from our overnight trip from the weekend.  Of course Paden couldn't accidently forget his white elephant gift.  They boys haven't figured out that you shouldn't take the largest box from the pile. :-)  So, thank you family for the year-old tins full of popcorn and the old-ish looking gumballs and other random candy.  It's awesome.  I think Gunnar might have accidentally forgot his newly acquired, dust-covered bowling balls that I think belonged to an Ellis brother that wasn't actually at the party, so Aunt Ann might be dealing with that little surprise.  In addition, I have got Fischer sized clothes to sort through and pack up the too small / get out the bigger size.  That's just a sampling of what I am sure is a much longer list of "to-do" tasks.

However, on the subject of sleep, I haven't gotten much in the last few days.  We served Famous Dave's BBQ to our plant workers on Monday and I went in Monday night/Tuesday morning on grave shift at 1:30am after going to bed about 10pm.  I was there for a couple hours, came home, slept, got woken up at 7:19am by my sweet Paden calling me on the phone from his overnight stay with Grandpa & Grandma Livingston.  I did schedule an interview for 9am and I had an investigation that I needed to conduct with an employee who got off work at 7:30am, so it's a good thing the kid called.  Today I had to facilitate training at our Paterson, WA location (about 45 minutes from here).  That was an 8am to 5pm gig, but before I went  across the river, I went to work at 5:30am to hand out turkeys to grave shift.  

So, I am kind of tired.  I am going to call it a night. I really am not spilling out all this information to gain any sympathy, just a matter of record. :-)  Oh, but if anyone did feel sorry for me, a potluck dish for work Thursday would be handy, as well as some baked goods to finish off my secret santa gift.  Yeah, wishful thinking.  I know.  I am going to have to wing it because you know what . . .?  I am just plain getting too old to do too much with too little sleep.

O Christmas Tree

I felt like we got a late start to Christmas decorations this year and because of that late start, I am not really feeling like putting up all the village houses.  We'll see.  The boys really want to do them.

We did get our Christmas tree up on Saturday.  After I went into work at 5:30am to rebuke the grave shift for spreading rumors and being mean to each other, I came home, cooked breakfast, got Paden to basketball practice, then we finally went to get a tree.  We just bought one from the local firefighters.  We did kind of want to go cut one, but that seemed like a big production to me and the guy that we thought we could go with went earlier in the month and we didn't join him.  

For the last several years, we have had a pre-lit fake tree.  It was a $20 special and it has served well.  I am not sure when I decided to get a real one, but I guess I did.  It smells so awesome.  It looks very nice.  It might be a while before I go back to fake.  There are some definite benefits to fake trees, but you really can't beat the real tree smell.  The one we found has great shape and fullness.

We had to run into town to get more lights, but it's done!

The boys loved decorating it and the rest of the living room.  It is totally true that they love it so much more and it's worth it to let them do it.  I think my laptop battery is going to die soon, so I'll just post a picture of the tree and be done for the night.   We are trying to get the boys back off movies on school nights, so Fischer is in there yelling something for me to do for him.  I wonder how long they will be awake.  Neil reads to them instead.  Paden sometimes falls asleep, sometimes not.  I think they are all awake in there trying to not sleep and make a point that they NEED a movie on.  Not gonna work, people.  Not gonna work.  

Well, this week is over . . .

I realize that today is only Thursday.  But, our school week is over and that's what I go by.  I still have to work on Fridays, but everything happens Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday free for the most part.  I plan on a scrap date Friday night, but I have quite a bit of cleaning to do in there first.  We'll see how that goes.

We had a busy week.  Monday night Paden had basketball practice - not really much else.  We did watch a quick Mormon Message for a quick Family Home Evening.  My feeble attempt at trying to get the boys to understand the world doesn't revolve around them and what they want for Christmas.  Only time will tell if they were actually listening.

Tuesday night, I was supposed to have a soccer board meeting and Neil had City Council.  So, I had previously arranged a babysitter.  Then the soccer meeting got postponed due to many folks having parent-teacher conferences at the HS.  So, then I was able to attend the Relief Society Activity - Sweet and Savory Fondue night!  Yummy, yummy fondue and Christmas stories.  Everyone was invited to bring their favorite story that they read at Christmastime - their traditions.  Because I wasn't planning on attending, I hadnt' really thought about it.  On Monday night, we did take some cookies to a friend for his birthday (forgot that earlier).  So, as we were driving home, the boys were oodling over the Christmas lights on the houses.  They were multi-colored and all chaotic on the houses and trees.  I like single-color lights that are straight along roof lines, but that's just me.  The boys were begging us to put up multi-color lights and lots of them.  We informed them that when they got their own houses, they could do lights however they wish.  Paden then piped up and said that when he got his own house, he was getting the tree story.  Ah, the tree story. I had forgotten.  We do have a tradition at our house.  Neil had gotten the tree story while on his mission.  We've been reading it with the boys for their entire lives (well, as long as we all can remember anyway).  So, I was able to dig out the tree story from the attic decorations and take it to share.  I'll post it sometime . . . it's a tear jerker for me every time.

Wednesday night, we had to be at the Senior Center, as Paden was singing with the second graders (that's how his 1st/2nd blend class works, they are counted as 2nd graders for everything) at the Boardman Tree Lighting Ceremony.  They sang up on the housetop. I'll have to post it - haven't watched it yet, so I am not sure how well the phone video/camcorder did.  It was pretty cute. They sang Up on the Housetop with hand motions.  Paden loves to sing, dance and play instruments.  I love it.  Luckily for us, they were first in line to sit on Santa's lap.  Gunnar wasn't sure that he was going to sit on Santa's lap, he said, "I am 9 years old, after all".  Yeah, he did anyway.  Gunnar told Santa he would like a PlayStation 3 with Skylanders.  Paden told him he would like any tools and something else.  Fischer told him he wants Power Rangers.

  

Santa had triple bypass surgery earlier this year, he's lost quite a bit of weight. :)  We know him; we go to church with him.  We were also supposed to sign Gunnar up for basketball, but I forgot that.  Luckily our babysitter is the person who does the registration, so we'll be OK.  Neil and Gunnar went to watch the HS boys b-ball team when we got home from the tree lighting.  End Wednesday.

Then to today . . . I woke up (well, yesterday too, but today was worse) with stuffy sinus yuck. Lovely.  The boys had their Winter Concert at school.  The City's Christmas dinner was tonight.  Neil and I had to split up - he went to eat prime rib while I I went to watch the boys.  Fischer did pretty well, but was a little less than excited about it.  The concert was pretty good.  They did a little bit extra that was nice - carolers and some reading parts about gifts and other holidays celebrated in December mixed in between the classes.  It's just a chaotic zoo getting out of there and there's no parking.  

Also accomplished this week . . . Christmas Cards/Letters!  So, I ordered some on Shutterfly.com - quick, easy and inexpensive.  I didn't want to go overboard, since I've not sent Christmas cards for . . . well forever.  I really only ordered enough for some family - first 25 people I could think of - sorry, I am just that cheap.  I was thinking last night that I could scan the one I got and send it out electronically to friends and extending family who didn't make the top 25.  So, that's what I did.  If you haven't received an email from me, then you can feel free to let me know and I can add you (or let you know if you made the top 25 list).  Does that sound wrong to have a top 25 list?  Well, it's really in no particular order, except grandparents on the top. :)  It's not meant to be offensive, but it was 25 cards or 50 and I don't think I could come up with 50 names/addresses and I didn't need 24 leftover cards.  So, hence the list . . . anyway, those will be in the mail tomorrow.  It was too cold today to leave my office to go get stamps.

And although the week isn't over, it's close enough.  Tomorrow, just work for me and hanging around the house for the boys. I am sure they are super, duper excited to spend the day in their footie pajamas.

Parenting 101

Do you ever have days where you are cruising along thinking you are doing well at Parenting 304 class?  Yeah . . . you've been doing this for a few years now.  You know the right answers,  you get them right most of the time.  Some projects go really well.  Some projects you don't always get the rest of your classmates to pull their share of the weight, so you take the lead and get the project done anyway and you really don't mind because the project is rewarding.  

Then, all of a sudden you run into a day where you flashback to a nightmare of Parenting 101 and realize you flunked that class.  Yep, you only were advanced to the next level, you didn't really pass.  BACK. UP. THE. TRAIN.  What the heck just happened??  Why did they let me continue if I didn't know what I was doing?  It's the school's fault.  I don't know the basics, I need to go back.

Then, you snap out of your nightmare and realize that there really aren't any classes.  There aren't any instruction manuals.  There is no return policy.  Oh boy, now what?!

Well, it was kind of one of those nights with those three lovely boys.  One of those nights that I am not sure exactly where I placed my notes on how to deal with bedtime routines gone wrong and I am pretty sure that I didn't pass that test with flying colors.  Now, it was not the worst of nights.  I have definitely had nights when more patience were lost and more voices were raised than tonight.  But, it wasn't the best night either.

So, the story . . . truth be told, my boys can be very sweet, yet they do fight with each other.  They fight over the computer games, they fight over the TV shows to watch, they fight over whose turn it is to feed the dog, they fight over who took a shower today/yesterday/last week.  You get the idea.  So, many, many moons ago to avoid fighting at bed time, which usually isn't a huge production, we took a calendar and proceeded to designate each boy's night to pick the bedtime movie.  A few months ago, we wrote in Fischer because he was getting into the whole movie fix and wanted his turn. F-P-G - it's not that hard.  Fischer has gotten a little crazy lately and declares it's his night every night.  He usually quickly gets over it.  Tonight was Paden's night to pick.  We skip-doctored the DVD, we gave kisses, and I thought all was well.  A little before 8:45pm, one hour after they went into their beds, there is arguing coming from the room.  Paden exits the room sobbing that Gunnar has taken out his DVD and put in something different.  So, in I go.  I proceed to remind them that I could shut off the TV.  I explained to them in a relatively calm, yet stern voice for all to hear clearly, that we had a calendar system for a reason . . . we could NOT have movies before bed, in fact might be a great idea . . . we could remove the TV altogether . . . we could not replace their dying TV for a flat screen (which is already paid for) . . . etc, etc.  So, I left.  A few minutes later, more arguing coming through my wall from their room.  I returned, turned off the TV and DVD player and they wailed.  They were sobbing and yelling into their pillows.  I walked out . . . and laughed.  I couldn't stop laughing so I went downstairs to tell Neil about the experience.  I maybe shouldn't have.  Neil's "relatively calm, yet stern voice for all to hear clearly" is a little louder and sterner than mine, which sometimes can solicit more tears and more wailing.  At any rate, the wailing stopped pretty quickly.

So, I am pretty sure I failed some important lessons back in Parenting 101.  I am sure it's not kosher to allow kids to watch movies before they go to bed. I am sure it's not kosher to let a two year old eat hot dogs and ketchup for dinner, without the hot dog.   I know. I know.  The things that often make me parent of the year from the eyes of my child might not be what makes me parent of the year with the actual parent of the year committee.  It's OK.  I really don't need the award.  I know that I am the best because I make the best macaroni and cheese following church every Sunday.  I know I am the best because I make the best smoothies ever.  

Although some moments, hours, nights, days, weeks are difficult and challenging, I am thankful for the boys. They actually are good kids.  You know there is divine intervention in putting families together.  My boys are for me.   I love them immensely, more than words can describe.  They are fun.  They are smart.  They are kind-hearted.  They have a sense of humor.  They are honest and thoughtful.  They aren't forgetful.  They want to be helpful.  They get along with each other more than they fight.  They are good brothers to each other.  They are with me to teach me.  

They test my patience and heaven knows I need that.  They remind me that I can't and shouldn't work alone to manage them; prayer is powerful.  They remind me that there actually is an instruction manual; it's called the scriptures.  I have some many wonderful promises in my patriarchal blessing and I have been reminded lately that I must do my part for those promises to be fulfilled.  So, for those reminders, I am thankful.

Tempted, but held strong

I will admit.  It's not exactly easy to not jump on Facebook to see what's going on in the fake world.  That is how I can tell that it's a good decision to quit. Friday, I didn't touch FB.  Saturday morning, I was on for about 10-15 minutes in the morning.  Quitting cold turkey was a little intense. :-)  There are some groups on there that I may miss some announcements - like Boy Scouts and Bulk Food/Coupon Deals - not sure how that's going to work.  FB seems to be the preferred method of communications/announcements.  But, I am sure we'll figure it out.  With FB on my phone, I sometimes felt like I didn't let FB interrupt my normal day since I didn't have to dig out the computer.  However, it was so easy to be on it more often.  There is likely some good that comes out of FB.  I know that our we can look out for one another based on random posts - it might cause someone to make a phone call and check on someone.  There are birthday reminders, which could be good.  I, however, feel that I have gotten very un-personal and forget more birthdays and do not prepare for them ahead of time like I used to. Why?  It's really fast to to just hop on and type "Happy Birthday!" than it is to actually plan ahead, make a card and get it in the mail on time.  I want to go back to making cards for people.  So, friends and family - 2012 could you be your birthday card year . . . digging the craft room out is a key factor in that goal.  OK, so that was kind of random tangent about birthdays.  The point of my post is really to state my success in giving up something. It's pretty sad to me that I find it hard to give up Facebook. Maybe it's not permanent, maybe I just need a break.  I know my husband would love for it to be permanent.

The other day, well last Sunday, we got to hear from the mission President and his wife.  They are very nice and personable people.  I don't think I've been in a ward where the mission president came to visit or speak.  Maybe I have and don't remember, but anyway . . . President Greer said that he used to not find time to read the scriptures daily, yet he would wake up early and read the newspaper without fail.  He realized his priorities needed to change, so he cancelled the newspaper and used that 30 minutes to read the scriptures.

We have a saying or a goal at work - we try to work smarter, not harder.  If we are using our time and resources efficiently, we should be able to accomplish what we need to.  Sounds pretty easy, right?  I am sure it's a little easier said than done.  However, I always remember a picture of a statue of Jesus Christ with his arms outstretched with the caption, "I never said it would be easy, but I said it would be worth it."

So, I am dedicating myself to reorganizing my time and my energies for some other things in life than worrying about what everyone else is doing or reporting, what they like or don't like, what article they read, what saying they thought was cute, what shameful thing their spouse did this time, what cute thing their kids did (although I am definitely going to miss reading about my little great niece and nephew - the twins).  I have my own kids to spend time with.  I have structures to build with Gunnar.  I have scrabble to play with Paden, even though he cheats.  I have "guy-guys" to splash with Fischer.  I have walks to take with the dog.  I have scriptures to read with my family.  I have lessons of the gospel to teach my kids.  I have family connections to make through thoughtful cards and letters.  I have missionaries to encourage with letters.  I have grandparents to call. I have scrapbooks to make.  I have clothes to fold (always!).  I have Las Vegas vacation to plan (although plane tickets and hotel is taken care of, we need to plan our buffet route).  I have holiday travel plans to discuss.  I have garbage to take out.  I have banana/choc chip muffins to bake.  I have  dinner menus to plan.  I have grocery lists to make.  I have bills to pay and budgets to review.

Seriously people, where do we find time to get everything done? You know that's not the end of my list of stuff to do.  I also love to sleep a good 8 hours. Did I also mention that I work full time?  I know you know that, but let's not overlook that one.  Well, I tell you, I would often let some of those things go because I was not motivated and when I wasn't motivated, I was seeing what everyone else was doing on FB.  I didn't even get into any of the games and I don't have that many "friends" relatively speaking, I can't even imagine how much more time could be potentially wasted out there in cyber space.

Tonight, I tackled laundry.  It was out of control.  There was more clean than dirty, which is usually the case in my house.  I can get it washed, but not put away.  I always feel better when there are more areas of the house clean than not.  So, the dishes got washed, the boys' room got cleaned and my room got cleaned. Gunnar, the sweet child he can be, took out the garbage, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned the living room yesterday while I was napping with Fischer.  He didn't have to be asked.  I later gave him a dollar for his efforts. I wonder if he deserves more than a dollar.  Even though he tried to wash something that had liquid dish soap in it and we had to ShopVac a few suds out of the dishwasher, he did a very good job for a 9-year old boy.  Again, I ramble. My point is that I just feel so much relief and unburdened when the house isn't a complete disaster. It gives me "almost" motivation to tackle the computer room and garage. I think that's going to have to be a day off work to do those though - or the boys will need to not be here somehow.

So, now I am running out of time to get my 8 hours of sleep in - yeah . . . since I can't really sleep until 7am. It's looking like 6.5 to 7 hours.  But, while I was rambling out my fingers, I was listening to the Music and the Spoken Word on BYUTV.  Had I known I could find the complete text online, I wouldn't have taken the time to type, rewind, type, rewind and type the whole thing.  It was really good.  So, I'd like to share it.

The Journey to Christmas

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

The month of December is a time of joyful anticipation. The sights, sounds, and smells of the season evoke feelings of excitement and wonder. For generations, children—and grown-ups—have used advent calendars and paper chains to count down the days. But does our focus ever become so fixed on the future that we forget to enjoy the journey to Christmas? This year, instead of just looking forward, let’s also take pleasure in the preparations: in the little, less spectacular moments along the way, even in the spontaneous joys that may, at first, seem like interruptions to our bigger plans. In order to recognize those moments for what they could be, it sometimes helps to slow things down a bit. We may need to shop less and savor more. We might have to dim the bright lights in order to see the stars in the heavens, but if we look, we will find them. Often it takes a child to redirect our focus. Think of how much children enjoy the present moments, the preparations, and not just the finished products. When helping to decorate the home, wrap presents, or bake Christmas treats, they usually make more of a mess than we would; they might not do it just right, but they also usually enjoy the moment more than we do! Their enthusiasm can be contagious. A three-year-old girl, wholeheartedly living in the present, exclaimed: "It’s not tomorrow! It’s not today! It’s to-now!” When was the last time you felt "to-now”? Yes, we are busy. But the days leading to Christmas are not just to be endured. In fact, perhaps they offer more of what the season is really about. The promise of Christmas is everywhere to behold. It’s not saved for Christmas morning. If we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to open, we truly can enjoy the journey to Christmas.

What an awesome message.

So, it's December 1st

I did turn on some Christmas music yesterday.  I still haven't gotten Thanksgiving decorations down yet.  Maybe this weekend.  

So, I am going to wean myself from Facebook.  I have a fear of not knowing anything about any family event, gathering, etc.  I suppose I have known too much about too many people and I am going to go back to not knowing much.  I usually try not to post personal stuff or share too much or vent my frustrations.  I think I've done an OK job.  But today, I vented about family movie night and kids running around, namely MINE.  A friend of mine was then apologizing later because her son was running around.  I did NOT intend to offend or make someone else feel bad.  It was my kids who were getting their heads and hands in front of the projector.  It was Fischer who was running around in circles.  I still feel bad I said what I said, which was only in a comment, not a status update that I have since deleted, but I am not confident it really deletes it.  So, I am done.

I tried to delete the app off my phone, but couldn't figure it out.  So, I just moved out of view, cleared all the data, cache, etc.  I am wondering if getting myself off Facebook could be compared to getting a kid off a bottle or binky.  My experience with those was super easy.  So, I am hoping the same.  Do I sound like an addict?  Well, I am going to not be an addict.  I am done.  

I have so many better things to do with my time.  I have a new cricut!!!  I haven't used it much because the room is a little out of sorts and needs to be organized.  I didn't do dishes last night, so now there's 2.5 loads at least,  instead of 1.5.  There are clothes to be put away - I hate doing that.  I also hate scrounging through clothes in the morning.  So, I am not sure how that works. Such is life - laundry and dishes - dishes and laundry.  And poopy diapers.  

On a brighter note, we had a great Thanksgiving.  We stayed home.  We didn't have anyone over, we didn't go anywhere.  It was nice and relaxing.  We put the turkey on the smoker about 8:45am or so.  I didn't have to rush anything.  It was great.  The boys got to stay in their footie pajamas all day and they loved it.  We didn't eat until about 4pm.  We ate.  We tried to get the boys to tell us what they are thankful for.  I think they would have rather been sitting in a dentist chair.  So, that's nice.

Neil left about 5pm Thursday night to head up to Tri-cities to Best Buy for black Friday, which was completely out of control this year, by the way.  He did get the tablet he wanted, but struck out on a TV for the boys' room.  He did grab one from Walmart, but when we plugged it in, no sound.  So, back to Walmart it went.  Bummer.  The boys' current TV speakers are going out and it's obnoxious.  Luckily, the boys have several fantastic grandparents and Grandpa Livingston was able to pick up a sale at his Walmart.  Now, we just need to figure out when we'll get it.

Saturday was Neil's birthday.  His day was completely overshadowed by other events.  He held up really well, considering.  We had some friends of ours decide to be baptized and the date was set for the 26th.  Neil performed the baptisms - father, mother, son.  The other two kids aren't old enough yet.  We've been friends with this family for a couple of years.  It's very awesome to see them open up to the blessings of our Heavenly Father will give.  We had everyone over to our house afterwards for dinner.  The missionaries didn't have dinner planned, so that was cool.  We had ice cream cake - YUM.  Neil's favorite birthday cake wasn't going to be enough for everyone, so we didn't have cake for his birthday on Saturday.  

Sunday, we had to speak in church.  We found out that the mission president and his wife were going to be there, so we didn't have to speak for as long.  It was a good meeting.  Neil did the three confirmations/blessings, sang in the choir and spoke.  Busy dude.  Many people commented on the blessings; they were good.  It was pretty cool to have the mission president and his wife there.  

Sunday, I made Neil's birthday cake.  I made turkey noodle soup.  It was a good day.  Our friend George Diesel (not sure how he got that nickname) planned a birthday ambush Sunday night, so a couple others came over - not everyone that George wanted to, but it was a good gesture.  He brought a huge cake he made, along with a pumpkin cake that I ate majority of for my mid-morning snack at work Monday.  That might have made up a little bit for the fact that he had to give up his birthday to give the day to our friends or that other family members didn't remember his birthday either.  He did get to order a new recliner for his birthday; it's just not here yet.  We didn't order it from our normal store from our normal salesman (yeah, since we've moved to Oregon four years ago, all furniture has come from one store, from Eric, OUR salesman).  Another store had a preferred chair.  They didn't however order it the day we put it on layaway otherwise we'd be picking it up tomorrow instead of next week.  Karma says don't leave your normal salesman.  

So, I just lost the train of thought to my rambling, so I guess that's THE END for tonight.  Yep, just like that.